Analysis of English Poetry “How Do I Love Thee?” (Sonnet 43) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (ID:385090)

SPEAKER AND TONE 1) Who or what is the poem’s speaker? In what ways are the poet’s word choices appropriate to the speaker? The author used the first-person point of view, and the fact that Barrett Browning wrote this sonnet for her husband, Robert, leads us to believe that the speaker of the poem is best interpreted as female, while the beloved is best interpreted as male. However, the way the poem is written leaves the gender of both parties in the relationship completely ambiguous, so anybody can send it to anyone else, without even changing a word. 2) What tone does the speaker use throughout the poem? This poem is a lyric, so the author uses different shadows of romantic tone. She reveals her thoughts and felling about love to the readers. We can understand that she really loves someone, and she's really interested in listing and describing all the different kinds of love she feels for him. We also get the sense that she has a very complex internal emotional landscape; she loves someone intensely, but she also has "old grieves" – things she's bitter about – and "lost saints" – people she's lost her faith in and feels disillusioned about.